Wetlands Discovery Program: Classroom for Teachers

Since 1988, the Wetlands Discovery Program (WDP) has taught young students the value of local wetlands in their school classroom. Our volunteers introduce students to wetland habitats, wildlife, and ecology through engaging classroom activities and then guide them in exploring nature during a two-hour field trip at a local wetland. Also adapted for other grade levels, this curriculum was developed to meet fourth and fifth grade science standards. Financial assistance may be available for transportation of classes to and from field trip areas.

Please contact our Programs Coordinator, programs@scvas.org or (408) 252-3740, if you have any questions about this program or any of its activities.

How to sign-up

If you are a teacher interested in participating this year or would simply like to find out more, read the updated Wetlands Discovery Program Introduction. Please read this even if you have participated before since we are constantly updating it.

When you're ready to schedule a program, view the available dates for this school year in our WDP calendar (PDF) or our online calendar. Note: dates are available on a first-come-first-served basis and you must receive a confirmation before it is officially scheduled.

After you receive your confirmation, use the participation steps below to guide and complete the learning experience.

Participation Steps

Step 1: Complete the Pre-program Worksheet

Start the program by having your students complete the Pre-program Worksheet before doing any other activities. Each student should complete this worksheet on their own, not working as a group. All of the questions should be answered as fully as possible, however if they don't know a particular answer, they can either guess or leave it blank. Diagrams are required to answer some of the questions. Make sure each student clicks "submit" when they are done with the worksheet.

Step 2: Wetland Discovery Field Trip and Worksheet

Now your class is ready to go on our wetlands field trip, one of the highlights of our discovery program.

After the field trip, your students will expand their knowledge by navigating our Wetlands Discovery pages while completing our Wetlands Discovery Program Worksheet. Students can complete this activity individually, in pairs, or in small groups. Note: it will help your students to have the Wetlands Discovery pages and the worksheet open simultaneously in separate web browser windows.

Step 3: Complete the Post-program Worksheet

After you are done with all WDP activites, including the steps above, your students should complete our Post-program Worksheet. Each student should complete this worksheet on their own, not working as a group. All of the questions should be answered as fully as possible, however if they don't know a particular answer, they can either guess or leave it blank. Diagrams are required to answer some of the questions. Make sure each student clicks "submit" when they are done with the worksheet.

Step 4: Complete the Teacher Evaluation

Fill out the Teacher Evaluation so we can continuously improve this program.

Last modified September 2012